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For all of you OC (obsessive/compulsive) types, this handheld Germ-Eliminating Light is the perfect device. While emitting UV rays, it seeks to destroy any germ in its path. Use it with your cellphone, laptop, MP3 players, or your kitchen counter. It even beeps when the process is complete. The Light utilizes the same technology as those that sterilize surgical instruments, and claims to kill 99.99% of E-Coli, staphylococcus, salmonella, and germs that cause the flu and a common cold. It’s available online at Hammacher Schlemmer for $79.95. Just think of the possibilities. We can begin eating at Taco Bell again.
Read More 
| Hammacher Schlemmer
Gallery: Germ-Eliminator Caters to OC
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OLPC’s (One Laptop Per Child) first 10 prototype machines (dubbed XO-1) will be handed out for testing by kids this February, according to AP. To keep power demand and costs low, the XO features a lesser Linux, a 366-megahertz processor from Advanced Micro Devices Inc., and lacks a hard disk drive. It contains 366 MB of flash memory, a built-in camera, and USB 2.0 ports for more storage.
Nicholas Negroponte, who created the laptop at MIT two years ago, wants to give kids an alternative to being trained to use Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, as many of them are now. “I consider that criminal, because children should be making things, communicating, exploring, sharing, not running office automation tools,” said Negroponte.
The OX-1s, which Gear Live reported as having been analyzed by Bill Gates last March, should be available to children internationally for €112 (US $150) sometime in mid-2007.
Read More | AP
Gallery: XO-1 Slated for Febuary Testing
As our way of bringing in the New Year, we have brought you a priceless gadget. If you are still feeling the effects of last night’s partying, Khursheed Navder, a registered dietitian and associate professor at NYC’s Hunter College, has a few recommendations.
“Those pounding headaches and everything else are related to the shriveling of the cells because they lose so much water,” Navder says. “Before sleeping, force yourself to drink water. If you throw up, very good, because you’re going to get some of the alcohol out that way.”
She also advises exercising, which increases blood flow and brings about perspiration helping your body rid itself of the beverages you have consumed, and the avoidance of caffeine which irritates your stomach lining and prevents you from sleep.
As to the actual imbibing, Navder says that you should drink a glass of water between the alcoholic ones, eat while you drink to absorb some of it, and the obvious going easy on the salty snacks, which will make you thirstier.
Read More | LiveScience
Gallery: Dietician Suggests Hangover Solutions
A 2004 World Robotics Survey claimed that 600,000 robots were being utilized in homes. Four million are expected by the end of 2007. They are being used for basic chores, such as the Roomba, to caregiving, as in the case of the 914 PC-Bot. But bots still face some obstacles as they make their way into our lives and researchers claim it will be another decade before they become commonplace.
“You can tell it to go to an X and Y co-ordinate on a map and it will understand. But ask it to `Go to my left’ and it won’t,” says Maria Bualat, leader for the intelligent robotics group at the NASA Ames Research Centre California. As for now, we are content just to have them just as pals.
Read More | Toronto Star
Gallery: The Future of Robotics
Share a Virtual Meal With Accenture
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Smart Home, Internet, Science,
If you hate eating alone, Accenture has created a system that will alert other family members or friends who are available when you are about to dine. A camera and mic capture you on screen, while your companion does likewise on a similar setup.
“We are trying to really bring back the kind of family interactions we used to take for granted,” said Dadong Wan, a senior researcher in Accenture Ltd.‘s Chicago labs.
We can imagine sitting down at the virtual table with our Auntie Mame and not having to deal with her literally pinching our cheeks while asking us why we are still unmarried.
Read More | USA Today
Gallery: Share a Virtual Meal With Accenture
Mr. Spock’s Watch Made Available to Trekkors
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Design, Misc. Tech, Science,
We have found yet another gift for Star Trek aficionados this Christmas. This Biohazard watch attempts to simulate Mr. Spock’s own timepiece. The LCD readout counts colored segments to tell time and date, and a push of its button places it into scan mode for panels and readouts to check for Tribbles or other alien DNA. The display discontinues after a few seconds, or with a second button push. Crafted of stainless steel, the watch is 37 x 38 x 12 mm, weighs 150 g, and is available at TokyoFlash for ¥15900 (~$134.00) with free shipping.
Read More | Tokyoflash
Gallery: Mr. Spock’s Watch Made Available to Trekkors
WowWee, creators of the Robosapien series of toys, has released their first winged bot, the Fly Tech Dragonbot. This robot actually flaps it wings, flies around in the air in a 150 foot range, and manages to stay airborne for about 15 minutes. It recharges by settling itself on its remote control. Due to be released in the UK in early 2007, it may be too late to add the winged creature to holiday lists this year, but after viewing the demo, we plan to add it to the top of ours next year.
Read More | Techopolis
Gallery: Fly Tech Dragonbot Takes Off
Spacesuits Being Designed for 2010 Space Flight
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Wearables, Corporate News, Science, Transportation,
You have booked your space flight for $200,000 with Virgin Galactic, the company that is building privately-owned spaceships to go “where no one has gone before” beginning in the year 2010, and you have nothing to wear. Oribital Outfitters, in a contract with XCore Aeorospace, announced that the two companies will soon be finalizing a spacesuit design and other safety equipment.
Rick Tumlinson, OO’s president says, “Billions of dollars are flowing into all kinds of new commercial spaceships, which will carry all kinds of people into space.” He added that he his company will “help make this happen, make it happen in style, and make it happen at a profit.”
We expect to see these new designs in the next few weeks and are counting on something that will not resemble the pajamas that Kirk and Spock wore.
Read More | Orbital Outfitters via Technology Review
Gallery: Spacesuits Being Designed for 2010 Space Flight
This new bot can be controlled by thoughts alone. Rajesh Rao, the University of Washington researcher who heads the project, claims that brainwaves make it perform with 94% accuracy. An electrode cap is placed on a human who watches its movements on a monitor through two cameras installed on and above the robot. When the bot “sees” the object that the human brain wants to be picked up, it receives the information and does as it is mentally instructed. The bot can also move the object to another location. Check out its performance and hope that it is going to be a while before Little Brother is available to the public.
Read More | LiveScience
Gallery: This Bot Reads Minds
Togo Reveals Portable Reader for Braille
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Corporate News, Smart Home, Misc. Tech, Science,
The Chinese company Togo has unveiled a new gadget that will allow the blind to slide, scan, and translate text into Braille. The portable reader also has the capability of saving text to a built-in hard drive for later perusal and folds out for oversized tomes. It works by translating the images into analog electrical signals with an optical-to-electrical transducer, then changes the analog into digital. Although still in the planning stages, we applaud Togo for creating this amazing reader.
Read More | Yanko Design
Gallery: Togo Reveals Portable Reader for Braille
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